Who<\/strong>: Cameroon vs Morocco Few gave Cameroon much of a chance in the Africa Cup of Nations after off-the-field issues marred their build-up to the tournament but the Indomitable Lions stood firm in the face of adversity to reach the quarterfinals in Morocco.<\/p>\n The five-time champions are up against the hosts in Friday\u2019s last-eight tie, knowing the pressure is firmly on the North Africans as they look to win a first AFCON title in 50 years in front of their home supporters.<\/p>\n With high-profile players such as Brahim Diaz, Achraf Hakimi, Bryan Mbeumo and Carlos Baleba involved, there will be no shortage of talent on display in Rabat.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s everything you need to know about Cameroon vs Morocco:<\/p>\n Cameroon have spent the last 18 months embroiled in a bizarre battle of wills between their federation, headed by four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto\u2019o, and the sports ministry, which employs the coach.<\/p>\n Head coach Marc Brys was employed against Eto\u2019o\u2019s wishes, and the pair sparred publicly throughout the 21 months that the Belgian managed the team. Brys had the backing of the government, which pays the team\u2019s costs, leaving a frustrated Eto\u2019o undermining his coach whenever he could but being unable to get rid of him.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Cameroon, who have been to more FIFA World Cups than any other African nation, had a dismal qualifying campaign and failed to make the cut for the 2026 edition.<\/p>\n World Cup qualification failure, combined with a landslide re-election win for Eto\u2019o at about the same time, saw support for Brys suddenly fade, and he was fired three weeks before the AFCON. In his place, the unheralded David Pagou was appointed new coach, and a squad for AFCON was selected without captain Vincent Aboubakar or goalkeeper Andre Onana, who had previously expressed support for the sports minister.<\/p>\n Cameroon finished runners-up in Group F with two wins and a draw. They were tied on seven points with the Ivory Coast, but settled for the second spot on account of fewer goals scored than the table toppers.<\/p>\n In the round of 16, Cameroon beat South Africa 2-1, thanks to goals from Junior Tchamadeu and Christian Kofane.<\/p>\n Despite being tipped as overwhelming favourites, the World Cup 2022 semifinalists faced early criticism after a nervy opening-day win over minnows Comoros and a draw with Mali, before restoring confidence with a convincing 3-0 victory over Zambia in their final group match.<\/p>\n Coach Walid Regragui had apologised to frustrated fans for the team\u2019s underwhelming performance, saying, \u201cMoroccans are naturally emotional, they need confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Captain Hakimi urged fans to back them all the way through.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the fans are behind us we can be champions of Africa together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Morocco topped Group A with a similar record, bagging two wins and a draw for seven points.<\/p>\n They started their knockout campaign with a 1-0 win over Tanzania in the round of 16.<\/p>\n The winner of the Cameroon vs Morocco match will face the winner of the Algeria vs Nigeria match in the semifinals. That game will be held on January 14 in Rabat.<\/p>\n Cameroon have not been among the most free-scoring sides, but a handful of individuals have stepped up to the task.<\/p>\n Teenage forward Christian Kofane has been the standout player, scoring twice at the tournament, including a decisive strike in the round-of-16 victory, to underline his growing importance to the Indomitable Lions. Cameroon were also fortunate during the group stage, benefitting from two own goals that helped keep their campaign on track.<\/p>\n Beyond Kofane, goals have come from Tchamadeu and Etta Eyong, while established star Bryan Mbeumo and emerging talent Carlos Baleba have both impressed, earning Player of the Match awards for their influential displays.<\/p>\n Right winger Brahim Diaz has been Morocco\u2019s standout performer at the AFCON 2025.<\/p>\n The Real Madrid player is the tournament\u2019s top scorer with four goals, finding the net in each of Morocco\u2019s four matches and underlining his status as their most decisive attacking threat.<\/p>\n Striker Ayoub El Kaabi has also caught the eye, with his acrobatic finishes drawing admiration from fans and pundits alike, chipping in with two goals to bolster Morocco\u2019s front line.<\/p>\n Achraf Hakimi, widely regarded as the world\u2019s best right-back, missed the first two matches due to an ankle injury, but is back to full match fitness, having made his first start of the tournament in the first knockout fixture.<\/p>\n Cameroon<\/strong>: W-W-D-W-L<\/p>\n Morocco<\/strong>: W-W-D-W-W<\/p>\n Cameroon and Morocco have met in 13 previous encounters across competitive and friendly games.<\/p>\n Cameroon dominate the head-to-head record with seven wins, while four games ended in a draw. Morocco have won only twice.<\/p>\n The teams last met in February 2021 at the Africa Nations Championship, commonly known as CHAN, in a semifinal tie. Morocco won that game 4-0.<\/p>\n Yes. Cameroon are one of Africa\u2019s major forces in the tournament. They have won the title five times: 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and 2017.<\/p>\n They are the second-most successful team in AFCON behind Egypt, who have seven titles.<\/p>\n Yes. Morocco won their first and only title in 1976. At that time, Morocco were only the second North African team to win the continental championship after Egypt.<\/p>\n Cameroon\u2019s coach, David Pagou, could be without midfielder Darlin Yongwa after he came off injured only 21 minutes into the last-16 fixture.<\/p>\n Devis Epassy; Che Malone, Samuel Kotto, Nouhou Tolo; Junior Tchamadeu, Arthur Avom, Carlos Baleba, Mahamadou Nagida; Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Kofane, Danny Namaso<\/p>\n Morocco coach Walid Regragui will be without attacking midfielder Azzedine Ounahi, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has a tear in his calf and can\u2019t play at the AFCON. He is unavailable for five to six weeks,\u201d Regragui confirmed after the game against Tanzania. \u201cHe injured himself in training. It is an old injury that he had with Girona, and the scar has opened up again.\u201d<\/p>\n Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Nayef Aguerd, Adam Masina, Noussair Mazraoui; Bilal El Khannouss, Neil El Aynaoui, Ismael Saibari; Brahim Diaz, Ayoub El Kaabi, Abde Ezzalzouli<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Who: Cameroon vs MoroccoWhat:\u00a0CAF Africa Cup of NationsWhere: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, MoroccoWhen: Friday, January 9 at 8pm (19:00 GMT)How to follow:\u00a0We\u2019ll have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport from 16:00 GMT in advance of our live score and text commentary stream. Few gave Cameroon much of a chance in the Africa Cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What<\/strong>:\u00a0CAF Africa Cup of Nations
Where<\/strong>: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco
When<\/strong>: Friday, January 9 at 8pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow<\/strong>:\u00a0We\u2019ll have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport from 16:00 GMT in advance of our live score and text commentary stream.<\/p>\nWhat happened in Cameroon\u2019s camp before the AFCON 2025?<\/h2>\n
How did Cameroon reach the AFCON quarterfinals?<\/h2>\n
![\"TOPSHOT](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/afp_695ad55857c4-1767560536.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
What happened in Morocco\u2019s camp?<\/h2>\n
How did Morocco reach the quarterfinals?<\/h2>\n
Who will the winner face in the next round?<\/h2>\n
Who are Cameroon\u2019s best players?<\/h2>\n
Who are Morocco\u2019s best players?<\/h2>\n
![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/reuters_695aab84-1767549828.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C549&quality=80\")
Cameroon and Morocco form guides<\/h2>\n
Head-to-head<\/h2>\n
When did Cameroon and Morocco last meet?<\/h2>\n
Have Cameroon ever won an AFCON title?<\/h2>\n
Have Morocco ever won an AFCON title?<\/h2>\n
Cameroon team news<\/h2>\n
Cameroon\u2019s predicted lineup<\/h2>\n
Morocco team news<\/h2>\n
Morocco\u2019s predicted lineup<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"